On this episode, The Yaad follows up on our previous episode looking at the Essequibo border dispute between Venezuela and Guyana. This time around, we spoke with Dr. Tamanisha J. John, on how the discovery of oil and other natural resources in Guyana and Venezuela has played a role in the dispute. Furthermore, she also spoke on how Western imperialism and foreign corporations had and at present, played a role in the conflict. Dr. John also gave an update on the recent meeting between both countries' heads of government in St Vincent and the Grenadines. To view our notes for this episode, vis ..read more

On this episode, The Yaad spoke to Dr Jacqueline Braveboy-Wagner on the origins of the Essequibo border dispute which sees Venezuela challenging the borders of Guyana which incorporates the region. The Essequibo region, rich in minerals and oil, is two thirds of Guyana. As such, given recent events in the past year of increase investments in Guyana’s oil fields by multinational oil and gas entities, this December saw the Nicolás Maduro led Venezuela hold a referendum in the country for them to seek sovereignty over the Essequibo area. Still, to understand this issue, we have to look at the maj ..read more

In recent years, the effects of Climate Change has been felt by every country within the Caribbean region. The situation has gotten so bad, that some cities are on the brink of Climate Departure. On this episode, we speak to the founders of Island City Lab, Dorraine Duncan and Jhordan Channer, on this phenomenon. Along with giving a picture of how Climate Departure will look like in the region, they also speak to how urban planning directly relate to climate departure as well policies that have been implemented and should be implement to address it. To view our notes for this episode, visit o ..read more

Content Warning: This episode contains mention of rape and sexual assault.  In February of 2022, The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has ruled that a man can rape another man in Barbados. The finding from the Caribbean appellate court, which was the view of six members of the seven-judge panel, arose out of an appeal by the Barbados commissioner of police who had challenged a decision by a Barbadian magistrate who had dismissed a rape matter, claiming that a man could not rape another. The court, in allowing the appeal starting on the 9th of November 2021, ruled that the rape case agains ..read more

Our guest for the episode is Dr. Dalano DaSouza , assistant lecturer in Economics at UWI, Cave Hill and co-host of the podcast, A Lawyer & A Policy Analyst Walk Into A Bar. On this episode, the economics academic spoke on the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RSF) where Barbados and Jamaica are the first Caribbean countries to access this new fund. Dr. DeSouza explained the program, what it means for both countries economically and express his professional thoughts on its criticism. Among other things, he also spoke a bit on the potential challenges and obstacles that the Resilien ..read more

On this episode, we speak to public health expert, Dr. Sherine Andreine Powerful on their recently concluded doctoral research. On the opening episode of the new season, Dr. Powerful explained the contribution of carnival to public health throughout the Caribbean. They outlined Carnival benefits to positive health and wellbeing for its participants; contributions to experiences of pleasure, healing, and liberation; and the opportunities for increased sustainability, inclusivity, and accessibility for greater community-and-population level impact. To view our notes for this episode, visit our ..read more

On this episode, we spoke with David Salmon, member of the Political Awareness and Respect Initiative (the youth arm of Jamaica Office of the Political Ombudsman), 2020 Prime Minister of the National Youth Parliament and journalist at The Gleaner Company, on is January 2022 op-ed, "The Failure of Youth Programmes". Narrowing on Jamaica, he spoke on the issues resulting in youth empowerment in the country been at a standstill for years resulting in the country been one of the three nations in Central America and the Caribbean that was seen with a deteriorated ranking on the 2020 Youth Developme ..read more

On this episode, marine biology graduate, Aprille, guest host, where she spoke with Dr. Kimani Kitson-Walters. Dr. Kitson -Walters is the marine studies project leader and data monitoring officer at the Caribbean Netherlands Science Institute.  Marine scientist across the region, beginning in February, started to raise the alarm of the sudden death of the region’s black long spined sea urchins (diadema setosum). Scientists have stated that the sea urchins are dying across the Caribbean at a pace that rivals a mass die-off that last occurred in 1983. On this episode, Dr. Kitson-Walters, sp ..read more

Content Warning: This episode contains mentions of death, hanging, sexual assault and violence against women On this episode, we look at how efforts in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean are organising to get the death penalty remove from their constitution. We spoke to Annetta Jackson, attorney at law, from Antigua and Barbuda, on how the death penalty works in the anglophone Caribbean and the history of how gender has influence sentencing in the Caribbean especially death sentencing. Ms. Jackson also explain the work of Greater Caribbean For Life and their project “Building a Platform for Ab ..read more

In mid February of 2022, thousands of Haitian textile workers took to the streets of this Port-au-Prince to demand a higher wage and better working conditions at firms that export to global clothing retailers. Currently workers earn 500 gourdes (approximately USD$5) for eight hours of work amid an inflation of 25 percent.  On this episode, we speak to a young Haitian professional, living in Haiti about the protest. She also went into details about the government response to the inflation and gave an update on how the country is dealing with the pandemic. To view our notes and the transcr ..read more